HELP! Mommy trying to kill one of baby chicks?

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mprivett

mprivett

Chirping
9 Years
Jun 29, 2010
132
0
99
Chatham County, NC
Ok so one of my chicks hatched a week later than the other six...all of them hatched by a broody. I was playing with them and feeding them (had my hand in their pen) and they were crawling up into my hand. I picked up the little one and held it for a little bit. When I set it back down mama started pecking it on the head over and over and over again. She would single it out to peck it. I scolded her and tried to stop it. I would distract all of them for a bit and then she would see it and start pecking it again! This went on for quite some time. She was even chasing it all over the pen to peck it wherever it ran and it was screaming. I know she was hurting it. The last straw was when she bit so hard she lifted it off the ground almost carrying it in her beak. WHY DID SHE DO THIS??? Was it because she was jealous of me holding it? I've got it separated now in my house now with a light and food and water. It is crying its head off and wants to go back with the others. I briefly took it out and put it down beside the pen and she tried to peck it through the hardware cloth. Should I try to put it back with mama and the others? I'm scared she will peck it to death.......what should I do?
 
If you put it back she will kill it. I don't know what triggered the behavior but for whatever reason she does not see it as being her chick any more. Keep it seperate and raise it as if you hatched it in a bator.
 
Thank you so much for your replies. I will keep it inside with me and try to get it a friend. God love it's little heart right now it is all snuggled up in a dry washcloth up next to the mirror where it can see itself. It is going to sleep now. Not used to the light being on it. Poor little thing. I just couldn't bear to see it suffer like that. I'm afraid that it's all my fault because I picked it up. But the weird thing is we have done this with the other chicks and with this chick and this behavior has never occurred until now.....
 
I don't know if chickens are like other birds/animals that catch different smells that mask their own and won't accept their young back... Did you pet a dog or cat and then handle the chicks? Cut garlic? Pick herbs? Is this a silly idea? Just grasping at straws.

Different question, same topic... do chicks raised by hand respond differently to humans than chicks hatched by a hen? Or do they all tend to love you after food enters the equation?
 
I wonder if you should move 1 or 2 more (or all of them) in with the baby that was pecked on in a brooder together just so they can bond as a group. It's a lot more work but since you have to separate 1 anyway, and it will be lonely, put them all together. They can develop their on pecking order for when they graduate back to the coop.
 
My brooder/ hand raised chicks love me and let me pick them up, pet them, and talk to them. My three broody raised ones want nothing to do with me. They are long past POL and still freak out when I get near them as though surely, this time, I will make them into chicken and dumplings. I was just thinking this week that I might sell one or two of them.
 
Yes I thought about maybe moving one other chick in with the little one. But at the same time I hate to do that because they have such a better experience outside in their little makeshift brooder and pen with mama. Also mama is teaching them good things like how to forage, eat bugs, eat greens, danger calls, etc. Maybe I should get a new baby chick or two from TSC or somewhere to go in with it?

We don't have a dog (but we were dog sitting this week- dog is gone now) so that could have been the case....but I'm sure I've touched the dog and then the chicks before so I'm not sure.

One more problem- I have to go to work tomorrow at least for the morning (after that I might be able to take off early). I'm so afraid to leave this little one by itself! I have the TV on right now and plan on leaving it on for noise. The chick has food and water, a stuffed animal, washcloth, and a little mirror. It is sleeping now but I noticed when I first brought it in and got it set up it would only calm down with it's loud peeping if I came and sat with it, talked to it, pet it, etc. Will it be ok?
 
I'd bring 'em all in. The hatchmates will peck that one if you keep it separate and reintroduce it later. They'll all learn to forage and eat bugs without mama.

The baby will be ok alone as long as it's warm enough and has food/water. It won't be happy, but it'll be ok.

Oh...I just read this one is a week behind the others. That may be the reason Mama started picking - she thinks her babies are all the same size. I tried recently to slip in week-old 'bator babies with 2-week-old broody babies. They grow so much in that short week - and it didn't get past my broody! She was ok for a while (I was supervising) and then she realized there were "intruders" and tried to run the 'bator babies off. Back inside they went!

Best of luck to you and your peeper.
 
Thanks, everybody. I got the little bit a friend from the feed store (a Patridge Rock pullet) and it seems much happier. These two chicks are definitely not as active as the other chicks outside in the little mini run and dog crate concoction who are taught everything by their mama. She keeps them busy with foraging for bugs, etc. The two inside keep pecking at each others beaks and such....is this normal for chicks? I have them some soft fuzzy things, food, water, sticks, mirror, etc. to keep them entertained. Also mashed up some hard boiled egg this morning for them. Anything else I should do to keep them occupied?
 

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